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Ostentation
Definitions
- 1 Ambitious display; vain show; display intended to excite admiration or applause. uncountable, usually
"Sir Henry had consumed his substance in ostentation and riotous hospitality—had fed many at his board, made many merry in his halls, but not a friend was in his house of mourning; the very retainers who had grown rich upon his ruin, seemed to deem the burial of their master but a signal for carousing and license."
- 2 pretentious or showy or vulgar display wordnet
- 3 A show or spectacle. obsolete, uncountable, usually
"Let her awhile be secretly kept in, And publish it that she is dead indeed: Maintain a mourning ostentation;"
- 4 lack of elegance as a consequence of being pompous and puffed up with vanity wordnet
- 5 a gaudy outward display wordnet
Etymology
Originated 1425–75 from late Middle English ostentacioun, borrowed from Middle French ostentation and its etymon Latin ostentātiō, ostentātiōnem, equivalent to ostentātus (past participle of ostentāre, to display or exhibit), frequentative of ostendere (“to present, display”) + -iōn. By surface analysis, ostent + -ation.
See also for "ostentation"
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